New Dawn
by Iridescent Essence
Summary: The death of his team, the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox, the Akatsuki, and the Fourth Shinobi War. Obito's bizarre dream showed him all these events and all the things he had done in another life. Ashamed of his other self, Obito tries to do better in this life.
1. The Break of Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any intellectual property.

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**New Dawn**

Chapter 1: The Break of Dawn

The light of dawn emerged from the apartment window. Bouncing and meandering around the room until the beams hit their mark: the face of a young boy with black hair.

Obito slept comfortably on his bed with his clothes a total mess and his blanket pushed mostly aside. For the moment, everything was calm but his serenity would soon end as the irritant reached his eyes.

Obito woke up startled, quickly pushing his torso up with his arms. He looked around the room in utter disbelief and laid back down with his hands on his stomach. Expecting something, literally anything to happen, he resigned himself in that position and waited for his breathing to calm.

He was confused.

He had a dream that wasn't.

Memories of what may be from another life.

A life in world where he was the both a pawn and the conspirator that brought the world near its end.

But he knows who he is: Obito Uchiha. Eleven year old, newly promoted chunin of Konohagakure no Sato. Just an average shinobi, nothing like an exceptionally powerful megalomaniac.

Obito wanted to believe that what he saw was impossible, that he would never, could never do such terrible things, and believe such terrible things. But he saw everything that happened. He saw a lifetime that was about twice as long as his current one.

Minutes passed by and it was becoming clear to him that precisely nothing was happening in the near future. Resolved to get up off the bed, he succeeds despite some resistance in his body and trudges over to the bathroom to look at the mirror.

Staring back at him was a familiar face: round cheeks with baby fat, a notable lack of scaring and blemishes, and large, childish eyes. This was the face of Obito Uchiha. This was his own face, Obito knew, same as it ever was. His hand now on the mirror somehow offering even more confirmation than previously, as if he would find something other the smooth, cold glass.

Nothing made sense. He and the image both shaking their heads.

He poured chakra through his eyes and sees the expected Sharingan. He did so as if he had been doing it his whole life. He was surprised but also quickly disappointed to find that his eyes had a measly total of three tomoe: two in his right eye, and one in his left.

Despite more effort, he could not conjure the Mangekyo Sharingan. As if he hadn't done this for a whole lifetime, for so often. No matter what he did, his red eyes would not evolve to it's higher level.

His mind warred over the meaning of his "dreams" and their implications. The fact that he had a Sharingan right now proved beyond doubt that they were more than just dreams. And he could feel it too: something about his body and chakra felt different than it had before. It felt heavier: both stronger but also burdened.

The minutes passed by when a loud knock could be heard at the front door. With some sensing abilities he didn't have before, he could feel some chaos and distress taking place outside his house and in the emotions of the people in his neighborhood.

Obito answers the door to see an Uchiha officer in a flak jacket.

"Hello Uchiha-san." The officer addressed Obito with their shared clan name. Obito wondered for a moment, what he should do and chose to act as natural as possible.

"Uhh, can I help you?" Obito asked with an obnoxious suspicious look.

Sighing with exhaustion, the officer said, "Yes, because of the storm last night we were called to ask if everything's alright." He looks behind Obito for a bit and continues, "Are you alone kid."

With a slight delay, "Yes sir, just me."

With a delay of his own, he responds, "I see. If there are no problems with the storm, do you know anything of note about what happened last night?"

Obito frowned ostentatiously. "Last night?"

As if accepting that he's not going to get much more, he grinned and said "Oh don't worry about it. If you don't know."

"What? But I wanna know what you're talking about."

With a laugh the officer walks off towards the neighbors.

Obito considered what the officer was concerned about but decided he'd figure it out eventually. He looked out into the street and saw that there was some structural damage to buildings on the street. Some signs are thrown far from their post, streetlights knocked down, and some houses had some holes in them. Obito's remained unscathed, to his relief.

After thinking for a few seconds, Obito decided he'd try to get more answers about his own situation. Without Kamui, he would need to find a private place test his own abilities.

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Obito finds a spot a few ways away from a secluded training ground in a wooded area. He considers his stock of skills and attempts some taijutsu. This seemed like a good spot but without sensor abilities, he'll never really know.

After a few swings of his normal style, he finds that his martial abilities seem to be no better than before. He then tried to fight like his future iterations and performed the attacks with some success. It seems he could swing in styles his body clearly had no prior experience with before, which means that his memories do have an effect on his body's abilities. Going back to his normal kata and realized he could swing more efficiently, and gracefully, fixing his previous mistakes.

Satisfied with those results, Obito moves on to ninjutsu, since he did not use genjutsu at all. He forms the six hand seals to mold his chakra and attempts to launch a Great Fireball at a tree about 10 meters away and.

The fireball gets thrown pathetically, small and languid in shape, not even reaching the target tree falling flat on the ground about 3 meters away. This was surprising because any Uchiha, even a lower class one like Obito could do a decent Great Fireball.

He tries again and this one was even more pathetic than the previous. This was startling because this has never happened to Obito before and he's never head much about jutsu failure on jutsu that he had already mastered beforehand. He could only conclude that there was a problem with his mix of spiritual and physical energies, the two energies that composed chakra.

Taking a few leaves, Obito would place one leaf between his thumb and pointing finger and attempt to set it on fire. This exercise was a basic one exercise for learning fire nature transformation.

While doing so, Obito considered his gameplan. He could sit around for two years and attempt to do everything as if he knew nothing and was the same as he was, but things have likely already changed. There have been major storms before but he does not recall one at this time nor the Uchiha police visiting him at this point in time. It is possible that he just did not remember this period of time all that well, minus memories of his team and especially Rin but he doubts that. Even so, Obito believed he was just not capable of maintaining a facade for such a period of time. He imagined that once he took up the mantle of Madara and Tobi, he could pull it off but he was just eleven year old Obito. A dunce who could hardly act even lie convincingly.

His best bet, he believed, was to just try in earnest. He could hide the truth about his memories but he doesn't have to ignore them and attempt to "maintain" the timeline. This means that he probably won't get stuck under a rock and lose the right half of his body but Obito really doesn't think he can go through that again. Besides, there's no guarantee it will happen again because there is no confirmation that his memories are true in the first place, even if they seem to affect his chakra.

There's also a matter of revealing his Sharingan. He'll be much weaker off without using it consistently but that will open a whole issue with the Uchiha clan. The clan elders always disparaged Obito because he was a clear and obvious example of Uchiha mediocrity. Despite earning the rank of chunin, Obito could not activate his Sharingan when there are plenty of cases of Uchiha doing so even before achieving genin rank. Even more so, when the number of "defective" Uchiha rises over decades.

If Obito shows off his Sharingan, Minato would have to report it to the Hokage and he would then have to inform the Uchiha clan. Neither sensei nor Hokage actually have to, but it would only be proper to do so, and neither wants to gain an unnecessary ire from the clan for failing to do so.

After they know, the elders will expect him to take representing of the clan more seriously whatever the hell that means. Obito is not quite sure, all things considered, both as a missing nin in another life and as Uchiha black sheep currently.

There are some benefits, of course, like access to an exclusive Uchiha Library only available to Sharingan-enabled Uchiha. Obito didn't exactly agree with this sort of attitude but Uchiha clan had always been reclusive and exclusive in nature, but since the founding of the Leaf Village it became exclusive onto itself as well as others.

Hiding in the shadows and keeping to himself was what the other Obito did, the one who had been dead for almost 20 years since Rin. Obito believed it would be better to do his best in the same way Naruto always did, as Obito had done before Rin's death.

With that decided Obito finally thought it was time to join his team at the training grounds. He had a whole pile of burnt leaves at this point, so he would do one more great fireball before he departs.

Taking his time and with great care, Obito makes sure his chakra properly molds the fire nature and exhales and decent fireball hitting it's mark. The tree was a powerful one and did not burn down despite the fireball but Obito was satisfied for now. His team was waiting for him after all.

And he was only about an hour late this time so they better be grateful.

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A/N: I'll be taking plenty of liberties with this story due to its nature and the lack of clear information of the time period topics like life in a clan, so I hope you don't get too stuffy about some details. The genres that apply to this fic will be: general, action, adventure, light politics, light drama. I put light politics because don't expect Game of Thrones shit. Romance is undecided, could be Gen or even harem. Second chapter will be meeting the team, probably won't take long.


	2. Confluence of Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any intellectual property.

Chapter 2: Confluence of Two

It was a bright and sunny day despite the turbulent storm in the night prior. There was a strange chakra burst that she felt at some point in the night but it seems like there was nothing that came from it.

Her house was spared the weather's worst but some of her home's exterior was damaged. Their mailbox, the front door and some windows on the right side sustained some damage. Her father assured her that he could take care of it just fine so she set out to the morning meeting as usual.

Rin was glad the worry was over so little and was excited to begin the day with her team.

She arrived a few minutes early for their meeting time at 8 in the morning and was surprised to be the only one here at this point. Rin was not usually the first one, especially given how punctual Kakashi was and just how fast Minato-sensei moved. He could probably reach this destination in a minute or two anywhere in the village.

She wondered for a moment what could be holding them but figured it might have to do with the storm. Inclement weather was not a common problem for Konoha but certainly more so than about any other village but Kiri. Usually this would result in property damage the would not usually inconvenience shinobi who were trained to deal with much more inconvenient circumstances but would certainly hamper domestic and civil operations.

Rin didn't have to wait long as both Minato-sensei and then Kakashi showed up just a minute late.

"Good morning, sensei, Kakashi," Rin greeted the both of them cheerfully.

"Good morning, Rin," they both say, Minato matching her cheer and Kakashi as impassively as is usual.

Deciding to tease them with a growing grin, Rin said "You're late! A whole minute late!"

Kakashi hmph'd understanding her meaning with the statement, Minato only smiled. "Hey, it wasn't our fault. We had a jonin meeting with the Hokage." Rin understood and knew not to ask if they were not going to elaborate.

The three of them, really just Rin and Minato, made small talk waiting for their last member to arrive.

"Sensei, now that Obito and I are chunin, is there anything we should work on?"

"Well there a few things I would want to say but I may as well wait for Obito so I don't have to say it twice." Kakashi fumed at that statement. "But really, most of what you work on is entirely your choice. The Hokage's job is to dispatch people for tasks that are appropriate to their skills but it's up to you what skills you really want or are capable of gaining." Rin nodded silently at that, Minato continued, "It is expected of chunin to take responsibility for their own growth and to have the maturity to decide what skills are important to them, their team, and for the village. Oh I should've waited for Obito for that." A sigh of relief came from Minato as he sees Obito running towards them.

Obito ran briskly towards them, hoping he could have some time to think about them without it being weird. Rin could see that Obito looked at her inscrutibly, as if he was expected her to be different in some way. He thought that he might feel strange about the meeting because of his other life, but he found the situation to be completely ordinary, but also a welcomed comfort.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Obito tried his best to sound as annoyingly normal as possible, having the decency to look sheepish for his tardiness.

"Just how many old ladies need help?" Kakashi sarcastically asked with grown irritation.

"Oh, no old ladies today. The police seem to have it covered. No instead, there was a black cat stuck on a tree and a kid was crying about it. Since I'm a ninja and I can walk up trees and offered to get it for them. So I went up there and tried to get it, the cat tried to claw me and jumped off towards the other trees." At this point of Obito's incredulous tale, Kakashi tuned him out completely as he kept going on about his fiction.

"Don't worry Obito, Kakashi and sensei were late too."

"What?! No way!" Obito overreacted, looking about both with much surprise on his face.

"As sensei explained we were at a jonin meeting. And meeting with the Hokage supersedes the team meeting, obviously."

"A jonin meeting? What for, what happened?"

"I suppose you would know, if you were a jonin," Kakashi says with annoyance.

Obito growled comically, "Why you. Just you wait, I'll be jonin in no time." Rin knew he had no malice in his words, but Obito sounded even less convincing than normal, as if he was just going through the argumentative motions between the two.

Obito smirked and continued, "I bet it'll be a lot easier too, now that I have my Sharingan."

His declaration caught everyone's attention and they were stunned as in his eyes they could see he was telling the truth.

Obito gave it some more thought and believed that he had to do things this way because, unless he's willing to sacrifice Rin, there's no way he would be able to take down Madara and Black Zetsu. Obito can't "fix" this timeline because he does not have the power to. Even if he sacrifices the ability to tell chronological events, he still has plenty of future knowledge like how the war will end soon after Minato-sensei perfects his Hiraishin.

"Obito, when did this happen?" asked Minato.

"I don't know, probably during the Chunin Exam." Obito was aloof and dismissive, almost evasive. It was hard for anyone to believe that it. "I mean, I can't imagine any other time I could've awakened them." This they could agree with. They had spent most the prior weeks just preparing for the exam, unless he hid it from them for a whole month or more, there was simply no other explanation.

"Now that I have them, I bet I could even beat you, Kakashi!" Obito declared proudly.

Before the two could start another argument, Minato preempted them with a serious tone, "You'll both get your chance but soon enough. First, since you and Rin are now chunin, that means you'll be expected to more directly participate in the war. That doesn't mean we'll be rushing to the battlefield at this very moment since there are plenty of other tasks that are useful to the war effect besides direct combat. Just know that if we are called to do so, that is what we must do." Minato spoke professionally and a little grim, hoping the three will understand the severity of their status. Kakashi looked aloof as ever, the other two glanced worriedly at each other.

"Rising through the ranks is not just an accomplishment, it's a heavy responsibility. Take it seriously."

After a moment, Minato's face and tone softened and he continued. "For today we'll be doing some training and a maybe a D-rank." The two boys' faces soured at "D-rank" while Rin was just fine with it.

To varying degrees both Kakashi and Rin were not quite capable of understanding Minato's sentiment. Rin was rather ignorant of many of the terrible things that could happen to shinobi in missions, while Kakashi did not know what to expect but had a mentality where he would simply adapt to and accept the horrors of their job, as he had done in his other life. Obito, however, did understand. He knew difficult decisions could arise like with Kannabi Bridge, and now he understood Kakashi's choice even if he completely disagreed with it. Obito would rather change Kakashi's perspective but he realizes that words would never reach Kakashi, not normally. A tragic situation just like last would likely be necessary and Obito is just not willing to allow such a thing to happen.

One of the things Obito learned as he was taught by Madara and Zetsu was that arguments are not so effective, if anything they can backfire as they seemed to with Naruto. That it's better that people come to a conclusion on their own, or be put in a situation where they must accept your prescribe conclusion, whether by force, as was Tobi's standard operating procedure, or by other motivating circumstances.

Since at this point, and for some period of time, he cannot rely on Kakashi to protect Rin, it will just be up to Obito to be strong enough. Not just for Rin's sake but also for his own sake and for Naruto's. And this should be fine, considering just how much suffering the other Kakashi went through because of him.

"Okay guys, Kakashi, Obito, practice kata for a few minutes to get ready and you'll start your duel."

Obito shook off his thoughts on the other world to try to focus on his own. It had been some time since their last duel since Kakashi wasn't interested in dueling him while he prepared for the chunin exam. Not surprising as apparently he was preparing for his own jonin exam.

After their preparations the two gathered to the center of a clearing near the training ground.

"This is the day I'll finally beat you." Red eyes stared at Kakashi's onyx eyes.

"You wish, idiot."

The two prepared their stance and after a moment, Minato said "Start!"

Both fighters stiffened up, prepared for the other to start. Both had the same idea, waiting for the other. Kakashi believing he had nothing to fear kicks off the ground charging towards Obito with his kunai in hand, Obito, mimicking him, does the same. Kakashi rose his hand up preparing a strong down diagonal swing from his right hand, like a haymaker but for a weapon. Like a haymaker, this type of swing is powerful but are predictable and easily blocked. Obito used surprising speed to intercept Kakashi mid-swing with his left hand, losing his footing allowing Obito to get a clean with a right hook knocking Kakashi a few meters away.

Obito smirked as the other three were pretty stunned. Both choosing not to say anything but only preparing to start again.

Kakashi restarts his offensive, realizing he underestimated Obito.

No, he underestimated the Sharingan, a mistake he's not interested in making ever again.

This time, Kakashi's agile taijutsu style that would soon be his trademark was proving to already present. Despite the Sharingan being able to see many of his moves, it was becoming obvious the difference in their abilities. It does allow him to keep up and block or dodge Kakashi's attacks.

Kakashi's "jonin" speed initially caught Obito off guard, it had yet to yield direct hit, increasing his frustration. Somehow Obito could still react and or predict his attacks.

While his style and the moves were clearly different than they had been in the other world, somehow it felt similar in some strange way. Obito began to feel like the time "they" fought in the Kamui dimension, where they both fought each other with the intent to kill. His body moved almost automatically to protect himself, but Obito hated this feeling. He could see through the other Obito's eyes and could feel his hatred and pain.

Kakashi sensed an opening, baiting a swing to dodge and counterattack with a spinning kick, sending Obito to hit the dirt meters away. Rin and Minato looked on as if all was finally right in the world.

Getting up and running the hand seals, Obito huffs and Kakashi through hand seals his own. Obito spits out a fireball but it was less impressive than any fireball the others had ever seen him perform. Not even reaching Kakashi or anything of import, Kakashi foregoes summon his mud wall with slight disappointment. Obito had a grimace of his own.

With a frustrated sigh, taking some time, Obito decided to try again. This time taking as much care to weave his chakra properly and pouring a larger amount of chakra as well.

This time, the fireball was large, fast and seemed very strong.

Kakashi quickly weaved through to summon the mud wall which arose barely soon enough to protect him. A gasp could be heard from Rin as she watched how the great fireball exploded and just consumed the mud wall. For just a moment, Rin and Obito were worried about the fate their teammate as the smoke obscured their vision of the impact area. But Minato showed up near Rin with Kakashi.

All three of them were surprised to see such firepower from the black sheep of the Uchiha. They pondered if the Sharingan also boosted attack power but recall no such tales. Minato wondered if Obito would talk about it or he would have to ask himself.

Their sensei was somewhat worried Obito attacked to kill or maim but it seemed like Obito was just as surprised as they were. Kakashi figured only an idiot could accidentally cast a more powerful jutsu than expected.

"Alright guys, that's good enough." Both boys looked disappointed at their sensei and looked ready to argue. "You both just got done with exams, no need to go too hard so soon after, alright." The two accepted his explanation but Minato smiled as he found both their continued pouting faces to be amusing.

While still disappointed, Obito was proud of his work, especially since he hadn't really done any real training since his vision of another world. Kakashi was obviously incensed at his own performance relative to that of his dunce of a teammate.

Minato glanced at the two boys unexpectedly, and they soon after made the sign of reconciliation.

"Good job, to the both of you. I'm really impressed." Minato taking a conciliatory stance. "Obito I was wondering what was up with that fireball."

Obito briefly decided what he should say but settled to be as honest as he could. "I was having trouble with my chakra so that's why the first one was like that," Obito said sheepishly. "I think I might have a chakra imbalance so that's why," he continued. Minato nodded at that but squinted at him as if to ask if he was going to address the second fireball. Obito did not appear to react to his look and answered, "as for the second one, I just make sure I molded my chakra so it would be right this time and poured a lot of chakra."

"I see." Minato appeared satisfied. "That was really strong!" Minato says this time, being supportive. Obito smiled widely at that, as did Rin, while Kakashi only huffed in response. All three of his teammates were not sure what to make of it but they were not convinced his explanation. Obito was never good at explaining himself so it did seem par for the course.

But they had their worries. Especially about his Sharingan, which mysteriously appeared.

And then the fireball. Both Rin and Minato both felt a strange danger with it's power. While Minato was not a sensor himself, he still had rudimentary chakra sensing that most ninja develop over time. Rin however could feel something strange. It was as if the fireball had some other power to it other than Obito's own. She had only begun learning chakra sensing a few months prior to the Chunin Exam since she still had much to learn. The Great Fireball was one of Obito's only jutsu so she had a decent familiarity with it and of what she thought Obito was capable of. At this level she could not decipher the anomaly in his jutsu but both she and her sensei could immediately tell the danger the fireball had to Kakashi.

There also his taijutsu performance as well. Which was not spectacular in particular, but rather it seemed as if Obito had been much more prepared or familiar with Kakashi's attacks than before. Everyone could see the difference in the taijutsu speed but somehow Obito kept pace with blocking and dodging. Though they did not expect much, the team started to wonder if there was something else going on with Obito, as he smiled blissfully to himself.

A/N: A lot of the time I took to write had to do with deciding what happens when. Because I can shift some parts around, I want to get to more exciting stuff as soon as possible. Team meeting will probably continue, probably decide what they'll work on.


	3. Stream Bifucation

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any intellectual property.

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Chapter 3: Stream Bifurcation

Based on the memories from his other life, Obito thought he and Kakashi might be fated rivals. Meant to fight over and over again, with the intent of training long gone. But likewise it also seemed that, unlike fated rivals like Naruto and Sasuke, and Madara and the first Hokage, he and Kakashi just never seemed to finish their battles with a decisive victor.

Of course in this situation, Obito wouldn't want any real victor but he did feel a little bit disappointed that their sensei would end the spar so soon. Their sparring sessions never lasted long as their resident genius would consistently catch him of guard after a few minutes.

"That was a great spar, boys, but you both just took your respective advancement tests. Everyone worked hard the past few months, you can take it easy for now."

Obito, annoyed by his destined interruption, began to speak, "Sensei." He got everyone's attention and they could see the boy was upset. "You asked us if we are prepared to join the war effort from now on but I wonder if you're prepared too, sensei." His words only confused his teammates.

"Are you prepared for us to go and risk our lives where we could easily get hurt or die? I know Kakashi is more than ready but do you really think Rin and I are as well? The Hokage sent both of you out on more missions without us because he knew we would only hold you guys back or put the mission at risk. And for the missions where we are together, he has to balance us out like we're just gonna drag you two down."

Obito knew Kakashi would have to choose between his teammates and the mission once again, and while he was happy the lone genius eventually chose to care about them, no one should have to go through what he did once again. Even if it means that Kakashi won't be their friend and would still choose the mission over his team if he had to. Though he hopes, it would just take a little bit longer than last time for Kakashi to warm up to them.

Minato was puzzled by his student's sudden concern but tried to assuage them.

"Obito, the Hokage is well aware of what each member of a team is capable of. And he's had years of experience judging and dispatching teams based on their combined abilities."

Obito still had a worried look and seemed unsatisfied.

"Don't worry, Obito. We'll just have to look after each other." Rin said backing their sensei.

"We can only our best and hope for the best."

Sensei was right, Obito knew. Of course he was. Minato couldn't have known, but in another life, their best was just not enough. And it was because Obito and Rin weren't strong enough to stand on their own, and because Kakashi and Minato weren't strong to carry them.

He didn't want to say more but he was very tempted due to his sensei's apparent failings. The other Obito had done so much wrong but the others were not without some fault as well. His sensei in particular.

Namikaze Minato was said to be the fastest ninja ever: he was so fast he left everyone in the dust. Few could keep up with a genius like him.

Yet for all his speed, he was not fast enough to save Obito in Kannabi Bridge. He was not fast enough to save Rin from her kidnapping. And even though it was his choice to sacrifice himself, in that way he was not fast enough to save his son and his wife with their lives in the end.

Not exactly his fault but when you're as fast as he was, you'd leave so many people behind.

For all these things, it was easy for Obito to pin some blame on his sensei. Maybe if they had been a better team or if Minato had been more directive for his teaching, the team would be more balanced, both emotionally and combat-wise.

But for now, Obito needed to diffuse the situation before he gets more suspicious. The others must've thought something was weird about the Uchiha today and he did not need to exacerbate that feeling.

"Sensei, what I'm saying is: you should teach us new jutsu!"

"A new jutsu? Like what?" Minato sounded like an idiot at that but he was just somewhat caught off-guard by the change in tone and how Obito suddenly behaved like himself.

"I don't know, something cool of course!"

He was really hoping for the Rasengan. Kakashi was definitely taught it since he develops his Chidori in the next two years so why can't they all be taught it.

"I don't know, I'd have to think about it. How about the shadow clone jutsu?"

"Wow that's so lame, sensei!"

This was honestly about as good as Obito expected. The Sharigan allowed the other Obito to learn it many times over but this way it wouldn't be weird for him to use it.

Kakashi groaned and Rin giggled at the Uchiha's antics. Rin had been caught up in Obito's speech, in part because the boy had brought her up plenty of times. Obito was known for his confidence, despite evidence to the contrary so Minato thought Obito was acting weird. But Rin knew better than that. There could be other reasons for it, but in this situation, the reason was obvious.

"Hey guys!" A yell could be heard from the direction of the village proper.

"Kushina-san!" Rin greeted her excitedly as the others turned to acknowledge their visitor. The redhead only grinned at their attention.

She looked around their training site and saw the rubble from the blasted earth wall. "Everyone working hard, I see." The team smiled and nodded at her statement, Kushina's own grin matching theirs and growing. "And what's this I hear about Minato being lame!"

At his queue, Obito perked up and pointed accusingly at his sensei.

"I asked for a jutsu and sensei suggested the shadow clone! Like literally the Konoha Special."

"Nothing wrong with reliable classics, Obito. You'll find that they will have save your back more than flashy tricks or situational gimmicks." Minato reasonable defended himself.

"Wow, Minato, that was so lame!" Kushina now joined Obito in his look of disappointment. "It's not like you shouldn't teach it to them, I would just expect you to do so and something cooler."

Minato was exasperated at their combined pressure. Kakashi thought the two were being annoying as usual but even he wouldn't say no to cool and interesting ninjutsu since he already knew the shadow clone. Rin could only smile at everyone getting along in their own weird way.

"Well, I would have to think about it. What exactly would you guys want to learn anway."

"Ninjutsu and more elemental natures," Kakashi replied blankly.

"I'll have what Kakashi's getting!"

"I'm not a restaurant chef, Obito."

The Uchiha interrupts his sensei and continues, "And… well I feel like I should learn something new. Y'know, to mix it up." He paused despite having already decided. So everyone turned their attention to Rin.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I guess I should learn more ninjutsu as well." Rin answered sheepishly.

Medical ninjutsu was a very difficult skillset for anyone. Not just due to the immense chakra control and skill needed to perform the techniques but the deep body of knowledge in human anatomy required as well. For this reason, Rin, like most other iryo-nin, did not specialize in any other technique. This typically means lackluster taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, and shurikenjutsu.

The burden they load onto their teammates is one every medic feels. Despite the Sannin, Senju Tsunade's endorsement, with the backing of the Hokage, there are still many who disagree with their sentiments about the placement of medics on the field. Opponents to the idea believe that iryo-nin are liabilities in the battlefield and even in ordinary team missions.

Obito wasn't sure what skillset Rin should pursue. Ideally, it would be something that's not intellectually taxing so jutsu creation and fuijutsu are out. Kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu could be good but he wasn't sure what her personal affinity for them would be.

The obvious choices are genjutsu and taijutsu. Genjutsu because iryo-nin already have high chakra control. But a medic generally likes to preserve their chakra for their healing techniques, which technically don't require a huge amount of chakra, most medics did not have much to spare and could not use another drain on their chakra supply.

Taijutsu is a good choice but only because of the cases Tsunade and her once-future apprentice, Haruno Sakura. But that would require somehow getting Tsunade to return to the village and somehow agree to help Rin out in particular. According to the Konoha records in the other world, the Sannin had returned to the village after losing a bet to Uzumaki Naruto. So it would be difficult for Rin to pursue this road. And this is even assuming she can even use Tsunade's unique taijutsu.

Obito considered bringing up his thoughts but did not want to patronize the girl. Even if she died in another world because they were not strong enough, that does not mean the same will happen.

This didn't mean Obito was gonna let things be the way they always were. He knows everyone will be stronger this time. Under the training with Madara and Zetsu, they discussed the ways one could convince another person to do something. And when force and threat are not to be used, it's best that people see things your way on their own.

With no clear answers over Rin's training and an anxious pause, Obito decided he should give his answer.

"So… I was thinking maybe, I should do something like fuinjutsu."

"What?!" The two sealing experts were especially stunned at his declaration.

It was the perfect choice for Obito, but only he would know it. The other Obito might not qualify as a sealing expert, but he could if you only count sealing with the idea of tailed beasts in mind. Since the Eye of the Moon plan would likely continue with or without him, Obito would absolutely need to have the same skills as last time, and he would need some of his sealing abilities to be known to be less suspicious.

Fuinjutsu was somewhat similar to iryo-ninjutsu in how it limited who would use that particular skillset. Both required extensive knowledge and study to achieve even basic results, with the exception of item unsealing which was usually very easy. Both require a level of control to prevent disastrous results.

Control and knowledge, not two attributes usually ascribed to Uchiha Obito.

"I don't know, Obito. Are you sure?" sensei asked, still flabbergasted.

Rin was surprised as well by Obito's choice but she also appreciated how, for once, Obito bailed her out of situation.

Kakashi piped up, "Even sensei thinks you not suited for it."

"I'm just not sure you have the… temperament for it."

"What do you mean, my "temperament" isn't anyway worse than that one!" Obito pointed at Kushina.

"What'd you say, brat!?"

"See what I mean, sensei!"

"Get over here, Obito!" Kushina went over to the boy and pulled on his cheeks. The two subsequently started another argument with each other. Kakashi was annoyed at yet another distraction from their training. But the distraction allowed Minato to consider Obito's training proposal. He would need some time to prepare materials for study and practice.

"Alright, Obito. We'll give it a shot."

"I'm gonna be so good at it, sensei! You'll see!" Obito tried his best to shout while under Kushina's headlock.

After the two settled down, Kushina bid them goodbye and their training continued. Rin and Obito both ended up learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Rin did so easily but Obito took a much longer time. Kakashi and Minato did more ninjutsu based training.

Minato asked them to think about which chakra natures they'd like to learn. Obito had fire, as is typical of an Uchiha; Rin had water but did not know many offensive water jutsu; Kakashi was lightning but he had already knew earth since he was a genin and was probably learning a new chakra nature already.

He told them they should be comfortable using that element and it should support their abilities by either enhancing their strengths or covering their weaknesses. Or with the same goals in mind, enhancing strengths and covering weaknesses, but considerate for their teammates' abilities.

And with that their sensei called their meeting to an end. Before they could head out, Minato called Obito to have a talk. He had an idea what sensei wanted to bring up.

* * *

A/N:

Chapters take a while because there's so much I could do that I could make work but I have to decide and then each choice has a ramifications and all that. I'm pretty excited because this chapter is the start of something that might cause serious changes in the timeline.

Tell me what you think in this chapter and the last. Did you think the fighting in the previous chapter was okay. What elements do you guys suggest, I haven't decided Kakashi's third one yet.


	4. Tempochromism

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any intellectual property.

* * *

Chapter 3: Tempochromism

Namikaze Minato was good man. Obito has since learned that good men can be so predictable at times.

To be fair to his sensei, he is not currently seeing his student in any adversarial light. But Obito knows how dangerous that can be. A ninja should never be too comfortable, after all.

Even though he had just gotten done basically asking his sensei to be tougher on his team, Obito will regrettably have to take advantage of his naivete. A good way to avoid a question is to address a different but also important question that is relevant. But the only choice is the Sharingan, which is a topic he also wants to avoid.

Minato lead them down further in the woods from the training ground. Wasn't far, really, but ninja are quite capable of traveling a good distance even when not in a rush. This location still had signs of ninja training: broken trees, explosion markings, and shuriken left behind. Despite that, without closer inspection the site was a pristine image of nature's beauty.

Obito knew, or rather, expected Minato to ask again about the fireball. A question he really wants to avoid, partly because he doesn't even have a good answer and being honest would make him look insane. It's difficult to craft a lie when he does not even have the truth.

It seemed Minato agreed this place seemed a good fit. The pair perched against a red maple. A simple tree with beautiful leaves, thinner than the First Hokage's type, with a random chance of changing colors to yellow and red much sooner than its neighbors.

It was possible to come out of this unscathed, revealing nothing at all.

The first step was to take the initiative, since sensei is a bit of a pushover when it comes to a few particular people. Take charge of the conversation and then determine its direction.

"So, sensei," Obito starts, grabbing his attention. "Is this about the Sharingan?"

"Well that too, bu-"

"You're gonna have to tell the Hokage right? And then he'll tell the clan."

Minato could see Obito turn away in frustration with a childish pout on his face.

"Yes, that is a duty ask of any sensei with an Uchiha in his team. Not sure why, the Hokage gets told and some others will probably be told too but I've never heard anyone broadcast it."

"Think of it as a goodwill gesture between the Uchiha and the Hokage"

A formality, Minato though, one made for political reasons, to encourage interactions between the two parties to maintain a cordial and cooperative relationship. Such formalities can be annoying to everyone, but they have their uses. Other clans have similar things, the Hyuga probably have a plethora of them.

Obito continued, "Getting a Sharingan is a big deal to the clan since, unlike the Hyuga, not every Uchiha is born with one. It's like you're not a real Uchiha until you get it. Especially recently or in times of peace."

The boy seemed downcast as he explained it. Minato could imagine this is the reason to treat some like Obito poorly: he's not a "real" Uchiha. Or at least he wasn't.

"It's not that surprising," Obito explained lamely. "After all, what is a Hyuga without their Byakugan? A Nara without their shadows, an Aburame without their bugs?"

"Well I guess this would make you a real Uchiha now right?"

"I guess so..."

"You don't seem to be too happy about that." It was strange for Obito to dislike attention, all things considered.

Obito crossed his arms with a thoughtful look on his face. "Being accepted into the clan proper seems more like a lot of trouble than I thought. They'll probably try force me to act more like 'an Uchiha' and make me attend boring meetings and stuff." Obito looked very annoyed as a leaf fell on his head.

"Regardless, I'll still have to tell them."

"Yeah, I know."

Seeing how it bothered his student, Minato really didn't want to. But it's too much for an ordinary jonin sensei to get in the way of delicate village politics.

Obito shook his head. "I should go now, sensei." Minato could see the boy start to scurry off somewhat stiffly. "Probably need to buy formal wear or something, never really had one of those." the boy muttered to himself.

He watched him as he disappeared into the thick forest and then looked upward. Minato felt like he forgot to ask him something.

* * *

With the orange sun peering the big heads, Minato made his way to Hokage tower. After reporting on the day, he was now waiting for an audience with the Hokage. The receptionist accepted his request on his vague explanation of "private clan business". While it seems suspicious of a request, Minato is already a ninja of repute, and as such, those who work at the tower are familiar with him and his team. With only one member being of any real clan of note, with more than member, some might add, there's probably only one thing to assume about this request. And it would be an accurate assumption.

Prior to this, had to report the day's training to the record scribes. He would tell them about the course of the battle and the discussion on new skills. The chunin scribes expressed their amazement with Obito, who had given the Hatake prodigy trouble for the first time. They did not press further as Minato had neglected to mention any strangeness of the occurrence, and the boy's eyes.

It was very important for teams to give accurate reports to the relevant authorities. Rather, it is civic duty. While no clan is very happy to have each of their members' abilities technically, readily available, the Leaf Village has deemed this necessary for the safety, integrity, and cohesion of the village at large. Hiding information from others in the village is likely to stoke fear, division, and belligerent competition when loyalty to each other and the village must be prioritized.

This transparency especially burdens, more powerful clans in the game of politics, as they will not be able to act as if they are more powerful than they really are. And any rising stars from lower clans raise the status of their clan quite obviously in this manner as well.

While "public", technically, outside of relevant officials like team dispatchers, people must apply for deeper access to tiers of information due to the loud fears of espionage and such sentiments.

After a dozen or so minutes, the office door opened to show an important looking man walking out. Minato recognized him as Kagami Uchiha, the current head of the clan. He was a strong and stern man, as one could expect from a clan head. More easygoing than he would like to admit, though that is mostly due to having enough troubles from clan duties and politics. He simply did not agree with Uchiha elders making a big deal over every little thing.

Minato briefly wondered what the man could be here for but shook the thought as he bowed to the head of the Leaf Village.

"Hokage-sama."

"Minato-kun."

The Hokage was always happy to see the jonin. Minato was an exceptional ninja, but more importantly, a good man. While the young man was somewhat awkward at times, the Will of Fire burned with no such reservations in him. Sarutobi thought he could see a lot of himself in Minato.

"What's this about clan business? Could it be that young Obito has finally..."

"Yes, sir. It seems Obito unlocked his eyes at some point during his recent chunin examination," Minato said cooly.

As he expected, the Hokage nodded his head and remarked, "Strange that no one else had seen a Sharingan at the time."

"I agree, Hokage-sama, it is strange." Minato's easy tone made it clear he also found himself incredulous. Sarutobi understood that much and decided to move on.

"Well thank you for reporting. Obito will surely have big things coming to him in the future."

"'Annoying ceremonies', is what he told me." The Hokage chuckled and agreed. "What sort of ceremonies do they have, if you don't mind me asking."

The information about it isn't exactly hidden but the experience isn't public either. Though a bit hesitant, he decided it did not matter much to say."

"A Sharingan makes a true Uchiha, so it is a serious matter to them. When they unlock their eyes, the main tradition is the 'Fanning Flames Ceremony'. Traditionally, the Hokage is invited to attend the ceremony for the first born male of the clan head."

Probably another one of those good will gestures, Minato thought.

"After formalities conclude, the new Uchiha fights an experienced member of the clan to show off their skills and their Sharingan. The battle is also meant to be a gifting of knowledge, teaching them the next phase of the clan's style of taijutsu. Other jutsu are thrown out too as a bonus, and are expected to be copied by the new user."

Minato thought it was nice that there was at least a practical point to it.

"They could certainly do that without a beatdown too. It has a both a 'you're one of us now' tone as well as a 'but know-your-place feeling to it."

"I suppose this is how Uchiha show tough love."

With a shared chuckle, Minato was dismissed.

* * *

Minato made his way home. He entered to find Kushina wearing an apron and cooking ramen, as usual. The excitement of noodles transferred to her speech, "Hey Minato!"

He greeted her in kind and took a seat at his dinner table.

"How'd the talk with Obito go, what did you wanna talk about with him anyway?"

Kushina might seem like a blabbermouth but she could keep a secret, after all.

"Obito has his Sharingan now."

"No way! I'm so proud of him." Kushina's face lit up and she passed him a bowl. "Maybe we should celebrate or something", she thought aloud with a slurp.

Minato chuckled. "I think he'll have enough celebrations to deal with of his own. Apparently he's in for some boring ceremonies with the Uchiha clan proper. He said even mentioned something about buying formal wear."

"Oh, he would so hate that."

"Yeah. He didn't really say, but something about it does seem to bother him." Kushina gave a concerned look as Minato hadn't touched his ramen yet. "Being included by the clan and all, when he's been ignored for so long. Or something like that."

"Well if he didn't say, it might be right to bother him about it. He'll tell you when he's ready, I think."

"I think it's worth trying to ask a few more times: not everyone's as stubborn as you, you know."

"Hey!" Kushina objected to it but she enjoyed their mutual teasing with each other.

Kushina looked thoughtful and said "At the very least, we could try to cheer him somehow. You said he needs to get formal wear right?"

"Yes, and?"

Kushina's grin grew foxlike.

"I was thinking… do you think Rin might need a new kimono too?"

Minato was speechless, the gears already turning in his head.

"You can't be suggesting-"

"Guys need help with these kinds of things anyway! Bet he'd pick something ugly like an orange yukata of all things, gross!" Her disgusted expression completely failed to hide her wide smile as her face grew red.

Minato could only shake his head, in denial of his own grin, as he began to chow down. "What a meddlesome woman."

"Kyah! It's gonna be perfect!"

* * *

A/N:

I had to rewrite some of this a few times so it might be confusing at some parts.

This chapter served mostly for adding more context to the ninja world that I felt was sometimes very lacking in the original. Seemed a bit boring if you're not as interested in that but I hope I made it more fun at the end.

I spent a bit of effort on each character's "voice", crafted for the particular scenario and relationship involved. Tell me if you think it suits them or not.

As usual, please tell me what like. I'm probably a slower-paced writer when it comes to events and plot progression but I could write this to be more faster-paced if people wanted that.


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